Pomona
by Travis Church
Summary: Welcome to Pomona U! "Vita , Eruditio , Vinum." You'll love it here and if not then you can love the the places around here...Or better yet, you'll love the people here. Modern AU
1. Hot Winds

**fA/N: What is this! What is this crap! RAGGH, I'm not even done with ****The Strangers**** and I'm writing something else! AAAGH KILL ME! I should be finishing at least the first part of ****The Strangers**** done but no! I write this! I can hear it now, "I HATE YOU TRAVIS CHURCH." :( Forgive me and my whimsical writings.**

**HTYYD and its respective chracters are property of Dreamworks**

**All other characters are property of Travis Church**

The air was hot, much too hot for the boy. He fell asleep when he touched down from the plane and waited in a charter bus for what felt like days only to wake up to this…Hellfire. Where he came from, the air was sodden and cold as the wind picked up the mist from the crashing waves. Here, the air was dry and hot.

He stepped off the bus and hated the sun and this strange place. It was hot, the people were strange, and he had never been so far away from home.

Remembering his purpose in this strange land, he took out the envelope that was sent to him about a month ago.

_"As part of the International Outreach Program and our Foreign Relations Department, we congratulate you for your successes and achievements as a young adult. You have goals to achieve and, most importantly, a story to tell. We have reviewed your application and letters of recommendation and give you the chance to attend our prestigious university."_

He paused for a moment to pick up the few bags that the bus driver unloaded and tried to find a place to sit. He was told that the landscape was very green and beautiful, and he agreed, but there were very few benches. Tired, he walked over to the nearest tree and sat underneath its shade so he may hide away from the relentless heat.

He took out another letter from his blue backpack and read it to himself.

_"You shall travel half the globe and attend one of the premier universities as you pursue a higher education in a major of your choosing. But we understand that you must leave behind family, friends, and community..."_

His heart ached with homesickness as he read that line. The images of his father, his friends, his girlfriend, and the little town he left behind. They all faded away when he left the tiny house he called home.

_"But we offer you in exchange an F1 Student Visa, a plane ticket, a room in our recently built dormitory building for the next two years, and a full tuition at our university. The totals for your four year education here would amount to over two hundred thousand dollars. An opportunity like this only comes once a lifetime."_

When he first received this letter it was a blessing, a free ticket, free housing, and a free education for four years! What luck! But here in this awful fire, he thought it was a curse. But regardless, he continued to read the letter.

_"Our university only awards two of these scholarships to young individuals abroad who have a great talent and a bright future ahead of them. Our faculty agrees that you have potential unlike anyone else. This is not a gift nor is it a random handout. This is a chance to open doors that you have never seen before. Shall you accept, a representative shall be in contact with you immediately."_

He opened his pack again for another letter, this time it was not typed but instead handwritten.

_"When you arrive, go to student services or to the administration. Your room number is 218 in the Pomum Building. You shall have a roommate."_

Realizing that there would be no help here, he threw on his backpack and grabbed his two suitcases.

"Should've just gone to Galway," he huffed.

* * *

"It wasn't all bad," he thought to himself. He passed by a very nice looking library and some students who were playing soccer, but he still wasn't convinced. The campus could have as many trees and fountains possible but it still made no difference. It was still hot and according to some random student, the administrative building was all the way across the campus green.

But then he began to walk through the green and his mind turned on its heel and began to curse the Earth, Sun and the architect who designed such a place. It looked about the length of ten soccer fields with two paths crossing each other. At the center appeared to be a large statue, but he paid no attention to the art. He only was focused on getting to Administration.

He was only half way through the massive open field yet he felt exhausted from the hike. A hike back home was refreshing and lifted a person out of their misery when the cool winds rushed about; this hike only made him sleepy and drowsy.

It took a bit of focus and awareness but he made it across the green. He refused to look back at the miniature desert he trekked across and walked into a brick building with large wooden doors.

Shoving the doors in, a blast of cold air slapped his face and taking no time to stay outdoors, he walked right in. The marble floors amplified the tapping of his shoes and suitcases while the long hallways sent the sound throughout the building. Murmurs bounced around the boy while the occasional burst of music would catch his attention.

Ignoring the call to go explore, he walked to a wooden desk and tapped a silver bell that rested on the edge of the desk.

"Please don't play with that," a woman's voice called out.

He looked around and saw a middle aged woman marching towards the desk, in heels. Already he felt afraid that she may pull out a ruler and strike him down.

"Well?" she said putting the pile of papers she held into some secret compartment. "What is it?"

He fished around in his bag for a different letter and handed it to her. The blue and yellow glossy embossed seal shone in the light of a desk lamp.

"Welcome, we award, please bring," she muttered parts of the letter aloud. "We will provide, Student's Visa, Relations Department. Oh!" Her face brightened up as her eyes caught some key word. "You are the international student! Here," she paused and sat down at the chair that was parked by the desk. She took out a manila envelope with the same yellow and blue seal that decorated his letters and handed it to him. "In here is your student identification, meal card, class schedules, dorm key, and other things that you will need. If you find anything that should be there, such as a parking permit or library card, go to student services and they will get what you need."

"Thanks," he said as he opened the envelope.

"You are assigned to the Pomum building, correct?"

"Yeah," muttered while packing the envelope in his backpack.

"Pomum is out these doors and to the right. Each building has its name in the front, so you should not miss it."

"Thanks," he picked up his bags and walked out of the Administration building.

As he closed the mammoth oak doors, he thought he heard something along the lines of, "welcome to Pomona."

* * *

He walked past the Vinis, Olea, and Ficus Buildings and began to wonder if he passed the dorm.

"I'd be so mad if I passed the dorm," he inwardly fumed. But when he looked up from the concrete walkway, his eyes widened as if he reached the holy land.

"Pomum Dormitory," was engraved in a stone arch that cradled grand wooden doors. He pushed the doors like he had done earlier and he was greeted with cold air with something else. But his head jerked backwards as he recognized the smell. Sweat, Lysol, sweets, perfume, and Axe deodorant.

He walked into the main corridor of the dorm and closed the door behind him. All Hell had been unleashed in this single house and called it home. He could barely manage the scent but he continued on. He pulled his luggage to a table with a blue construction paper sign draped in front that read, "welcome Pomum residents," in yellow paint. The afternoon light streamed from a window behind him and graced a dessert platter next to some maps of the campus. Suspicously, he took a cookie and thought to himself, "what hath God wrought?" He held the cookie to the light and inspected it, and decided to take another one. And another one just for the heck of it.

Following the signs up to the second floor, he lugged his bags up a single flight of stone stairs with much strain. It was a feat of endurance and persistence to say the least.

But when he rose to the second floor, he was certain that he was in the seventh circle of Hell. His jaw dropped when women in scantily clad shorts and skirts dropped their belongings and bent over to show what little they wore underneath. He was stupefied as guys slammed into each other's chests and shouted some stupid phrase that ran along the lines of, "red red down with the head!" Only was he brought back to life as volleyball hit him square in the gut, pushing him backwards and onto a door.

"Sorry man!" Someone called out.

Pulling himself up, he assumed a defensive position; briskly walking past the insane residents and maneuvering his suitcases around the boxes and crates of things that sat outside doorways.

He counted, "215, 216, 217," and then 218. He reached into his backpack for the manila envelope. He desperately searched for a key and when he found it, he thanked whatever God made keys.

In a flash, he opened the door and slammed it shut to protect his body and his soul from what depravity raged on outside. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes to his new habitat.

The half opened window shed light onto the light brown carpeting and a gust of warm air tickled his nose. He walked past the few cardboard boxes that dotted the main room and went over to the small hallway. He turned left at the end of the hall and turned the knob; seeing a bed with clothes and books already unpacked he decided that his roommate already claimed that room for his or her own. He turned to his back and found another room with an empty bed with a window to the side of it.

He set his bags down and climbed over the bed to make sure his window was shut; he already had his fill of the burning winds and anymore would just have pushed him over the edge. He sat down on the bed and kicked of his brown shoes and tore off his coffee colored hoodie.

"This is where I'll live," he thought as he sat down on the bed. His legs dangled as he said to himself, "I don't know how I'll fit in here, let alone live, learn, or even pass classes here!" He stood up and moved out of his bed and began to wander the dorm room.

He made a left and faced a white door, and with nothing better to do, he turned the knob. Daylight from a tiny window, positioned near the ceiling, danced through a clear shower curtain and onto a blue bathroom rug. The boy stepped on it and faced the wall mirror and began to assess himself.

He brushed his brown hair from his face and stared at himself. He brought a hand to his pink, almost rose, cheeks and began to trace the freckles on his face. Before, he saw stars and constellations in his face but now he only saw scars. His green eyes looked down at his thinly built body and as gave himself a smile, it died away quickly when he saw the gaps in his front teeth. He never had parents but at least he had a father, but the family he grew up with couldn't afford for orthodontics. The dentist that was in the town he grew up in just didn't have the tools for a procedure and the nearest one that did have the tools was three hours away.

Sighing, he left the bathroom mirror to its own devices and resumed wandering the dorm room. Realizing his own defeat, he sat down on the couch that was placed in the center. He tried to blend into the carpeting and bleed into the walls so that way he could just not exist in this foreign place. He just wanted to fade away and return home. He began to daydream the walls melting away and grass growing under his feet. Mist caressing his skin, the friends that knew his name, and the people making music with the familiar slang and accents in his ears. He dreamed of home.

But a few raps on the door dragged him out of his reverie and back to the university that he was now trapped in.

A boy with curly blond hair was laughing, and he envied him for that, and closed the door. His eyebrows raised when he saw the boy sitting on the couch and gave a tiny smile.

"Do you like my couch?" he said when he saw a boy in a green shirt on his off white couch.

"What? Oh," he began to apologize, "I didn't mean to"

"It's okay," he began "I actually bought it when student services told me I'd get a roommate. So," he said walking over, "I guess you're my roommate huh?"

"Yeah," he wasn't sure of the fist that extended from his body. Was that some sort of polite way of showing that he was about to punch him or was it something else entirely?

Unsure, he kept his arms to himself and pocketed his hands in his black jeans, which he now learned that the color black and denim is a combination not worth wearing here.

"Uhh, well I'm Tripp. Yes, my Dad had the balls to name me Tripp."

"I think my Dad takes the cake when had the balls to name me Hiccup."

He gaped and said, "that's sick! I've got a Hiccup!" He howled in laughter while Hiccup only eyed him suspiciously from the couch unable to see the humor in his name. "Hiccup Haddock right?"

"Yeah," the boy said now a little more at ease with the stranger.

"We're going to be awesome roommates! Did the hag at Administration give you the introduction?"

"What introduction?"

"Guess that's a no," he then plopped himself onto the couch and looked to Hiccup. "Hiccup Haddock, lemme be the first to welcome you to Pomona University of California."

**A/N: OMG what is this. I took like 4 hours trying to do this Modern AU fic and I didn't even look at The Strangers. WTF :( But now that I'm done, I no longer have whims telling me to do crazy stuff like this. I think I might keep up with this fic to keep me going on other stuff than ****The Strangers****. Yes, there's OC's so don't kill me. But this story won't be as epic or action oriented but instead it'll be more dramatic than anything else: romance, jealousy, a foreigner in a strange land; that sort of thing.**

**FUUUUU-I just realized that there is a Pomona University in Pomona, Ca and it's nothing like the Pomona that I wanted to make. So just ignore the fact that there is a real world Pomona U.**

**Rate, review, and give me your thoughts!**


	2. Missing Phone

**Disclaimer: the characters of How to Train Your Dragon belong to Dreamworks**

**Everything else is by Travis Church **

Tripp took Hiccup's hand in a handshake and then lifted him up from the couch.

"Lemme give you the grand tour!" And with that, Hiccup was lead out of the room and back into the chaos. He had to do a bit of negotiating, explaining that he needed his shoes, and ran back inside. Hiccup thought about locking himself inside, but he needed to be as polite as possible to his new roommate. He exited and locked the door behind him.

"First," Tripp began elatedly, "this is where you'll be spending your nights. Pomum Dormitory was built about two years ago by the grandson of the original architect of Pomona U. Everyone wanted to keep the style of the university going, so thus the Ivy-esque League style. Marble floors, stone arches, big ass main doors: the works."

It seemed to Hiccup that ether moving through the Hell crowd was either a skill worth learning or Tripp was imbued with some magic that let him slide through the mob. While Tripp navigated around person after person, Hiccup stopped and had to apologize to the stranger that he would collide with.

They finally passed the maelstrom of men and women and descended the marble staircase. Hiccup lightly held on to the rail listening while his roommate galloped downwards.

By the time Hiccup got to the end, Tripp held a brownie in his hand and while he ate at another one.

"Wafff fon?" He asked gnawing the brownie with his mouth.

"Thanks," Hiccup said as he took the dessert from his lightly tanned hand and followed him out the main doors.

"Sohff," Tripp swallowed the brownie and resumed speaking. "So, there are about four main dormitories on campus: Vinis, Olea, Ficus, and Pomum. Olea is the oldest and is co-ed, Vinis is the second oldest and an only guys dorm, Ficus is the second youngest and is only girls, by the way don't get caught there at all or you'll die, and Pomum is the newest and co-ed. Every couple of months, there'll be some inter-dorm sports competition. Do you like sports?"

"Not really," Hiccup said but when he saw Tripp eyed him oddly and he babbled, "Well I do sort of! But in moderation and when I feel like it! I like watching the-"

"It's okay, relax man," he consoled. "I'm not a fan either, it's not like they'll kill you if you don't sign up or anything. You say you're excited for the games, go to the party, have a couple drinks, and go back to your bed. It's nothing if you make it nothing."

"Oh," Hiccup unwound as he realized that he was no longer under scrutiny.

"Yeah, don't worry." The continued walking in a peaceable silence until they approached a different building. "This," he said gesturing to the entire building, "is the library. It doesn't look big but there's a secret." He moved in and whispered, "There are underground floors."

"What!" Hiccup exclaimed in shock.

"Have you ever seen the congressional library?"

"I've seen pictures."

"It's just like that." Hiccup's eyes widened at the declaration but Tripp continued on, "I'd bring you in but we still need to cover the most important buildings. You look like a smart kid, you'll find it later."

They moved along the campus and as Tripp notated specific buildings: dining hall, random education buildings, clean bathrooms, student services; Hiccup only gave each a half thought. Half of his mind was devoted to focusing on what his roommate said while the other half thought about the small town equivalent he remembered. He imagined the classrooms that he spent time in as he saw the Science Department, he remembered his nearly immaculate bathroom he had and the mildly clean bathroom his father claimed when Tripp pointed out the restrooms, and he recalled the calls his father got from the principal when he got injured as they passed student services. His stomach ached with longing.

But Tripp heard something different from the boy's stomach. "Hey, you wanna get something to eat?"

"Uhh, not really. I'm not that hungry."

"Oh come on, I heard your stomach. You need food. I'll take you to my bro's dorm, he's always got somethin' to eat."

And without his rebuttal, Tripp walked away from the fountain they stopped and began moving to the dorm cluster. Hiccup sighed, realizing that he couldn't stop the boy and went after him.

"So my brother," Tripp started, "he's a junior living in the Olea house with some other junior, I think he's a junior at least." He waited for Hiccup to get to his position and asked, "Do you have a brother?"

He took a deep breath and said, "no. I don't."

"How 'bout a sister?"

"No, I'm an only child." He said with ambivalence. Not willing to continue this conversation, Hiccup asked, "so where's your brother?"

"Oh yeah! Come on, we're almost there." They both moved past other students and buildings in silence. Hiccup paid most of his attention to the flora, admiring the diversity of the flowers. Flowers in his hometown would die because the soil was either too wet or it was too cold. Most of the flowers would then have to be bought in the city, which was about three hours south. Therefore, if it wasn't Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, or special event that warranted flowers then no one would buy flowers. Instead, Hiccup would make fabric and paper flowers and fill them in whatever vases he could find.

Brought back from his memories, Tripp called out and waved to him in front of a pair of large wooden doors. He quickened his pace and went inside with the roommate.

"This is Olea Dorm, like I said; it's the first and oldest of all the dorms. Doesn't it smell like old people?"

Taking in the air, he asked, "What do old people smell like?"

"I dunno," Tripp shrugged, "books, dust, wood polish. I hoped you would know." They followed a long red rug and hung a right at the first chance. They then ascended a staircase and like before, Tripp galloped up while Hiccup carefully held the railing. This time, when Hiccup finally arrived, Tripp did not hold a brownie; but he still felt awe and joy with a twinge of jealousy.

Behind the blonde was a hallway that was not filled to the brim with students and boxes. Everything was orderly and civil; a heaven compared to the Hell of Pomum dormitories. The occasional group would form but then they would exchange greetings and depart together. Hiccup felt as if he were cast out and exiled from these dignified people, forced to stay with the rowdiness of Pomum: second floor.

"Hey Tripp?" Hiccup asked, "Are the dorms separated by classes or what?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," but the real reason was to ease himself that he was forced to live in Pomum 218 because of some arcane tradition built by the faculty.

"Yes and no. Pomum and Olea are divided based on class. Pomum is for the lower classmen and Olea is for the upper classmen. It is highly suggested that you stay in Pomum and then move to Olea when you become a junior but," Tripp said stretching out his last word before continuing, "there are exceptions. If there's some personal reason why you can't be in a co-ed dorm, like religion or personal reason, then you can move into Vinis or Ficus. But other than that, once in Pomum always in Pomum. Until later."

Hiccup took in everything that he said and, walking down the stone hallway, he accepted his wretched fate. He was sentenced to Pomum and he would have to endure it unless there was some other reason. He looked to the window that lighted the long hallway and realized that there was no other reason. His religion wasn't strict enough, his father wasn't strict enough, and all he had was a preference of "not crazy" over "crazy."

"At least he seems nice," Hiccup mused as he looked over to the blonde.

They stopped at room 317 and Tripp gave three quick knocks on the dark wood door.

"You sure your brother's here?"

"I'm sure of it!" Tripp gave another three quick knocks on the door.

"You know," Hiccup offered, "he might be getting his luggage or textbooks."

"That's crazy," Tripp said while knocking again. "My brother doesn't read."

Hiccup eyed him in disbelief and expected another set of knocks on the door but Tripp, ever so surprising, pulled out a cell phone from his pocket and began to dial.

Before he could even place the phone near his ear, the door unlocked and out came an older and slightly taller student in a purple shirt.

He stood underneath the doorframe, sighed, and said in a baritone voice, "at least you chose a fling with some decency."

Both jaws dropped to the floor and Hiccup was the first to cry out, "what!"

"This is the first thing you say to me in like three months?" Tripp then began to use bombastic arm gestures, "at least you chose a fling with some decency? Come on, he's my roommate!"

Rubbing his black burr cut head, he said, "did you-"

Both in perfect unison responded, "No!"

"Okay then," he gestured them into the room and, as sheep, followed.

Hiccup entered the room and he envied the other student because the dorm was better than his for a million reasons, and possibly more. He walked over to the couch, which he was sure was out of an Ikea catalogue, and sat down. He sighed in content when the tan cushions absorbed his body and molded to his lanky frame. Tripp then moved took a seat next to him, kicking off his slippers, and placed his feet on the coffee table.

The brother now standing in front of the two asked incredulously, "really Tripp?"

"Fine," he said bringing his legs down in defeat. "Oh yeah, introductions, I forgot already. Bro, this is my roomie Hiccup Haddock."

The brother raised an eyebrow and asked, "is your name really-"

"Yes," Hiccup cut in, "yes it is."

"And Hiccup, this is my bro Damien."

"Hi," Damien extended a fist to Hiccup. Again, he was not sure if it was a polite way to say he was about to get a punch in the face or something else entirely so he pocketed his hands in his jeans.

"Bro, is the mini-fridge set up yet?"

"No, and if it was you wouldn't get as much as a yogurt cup."

"That's what you think!" Tripp then bounced off the sofa and ran to a set of cabinets, drawers, and bookshelves on the Western side of the room.

"Sorry I thought you and my brother had-"

"Yeah," Hiccup interrupted, "it's okay. I think. So is he-"

"I'm not sure," he interrupted in response. He began to rub his tattooed right arm and said, "He's, yeah I just don't know."

"Hey bro!" Tripp said as he turned on the TV set behind them. "Did you get cable yet?"

"I didn't order anything yet."

"Then thank your roommate, he's really ahead of the game." Tripp finished flipping through the channels. He then rounded a tall standing lamp and plopped himself on the sofa next to Hiccup. Absentmindedly, the blonde offered a bag of chips and Hiccup took a gingerly amount.

"What are you doing?" Damien said as he hardened his dark brown eyes.

"Oh yeah," Tripp thought aloud, "want some?"

"Jesus, just don't spill anything." He then walked away from the two as they watched a dirt bike race unfold. "Wait," he asked from down the miniature hallway, "Tripp how did you know that I have a male roommate?"

"This is a room for two. And even though this is a co-ed dorm, that doesn't mean this is a co-ed room."

"Reasonable enough." He returned with a duffle bag and threw it at his brother still cradling the bag of chips.

The duffle bag crushed the potato chips and with shock and rage, he cried, "why'd you do that? Hiccup and I were eating!

Uncaring, Damien continued, "You forgot this at home. Dad told me to give it to you when I was visiting him."

Realization hit him and he said joyously, "thanks! I was freaking out," he said while unzipping the pack and rifling through its contents. "Thought Dad would have to send it here by mail. Or worse, come here in person," he said shivering.

"Hiccup," Damien asked as he began to walk to the far end of the room, "this your first time at Pomona U?"

"How could you tell?"

"Sixth sense," he shrugged. "Can I get you something to drink?" He called out from the opposite side of the main room.

"Sure, I'll take whatever you can get."

He handed the brunette a can of soda and sat on a box that was left by the sofa. "Hiccup, Tripp, hey Tripp?"

The brother was too busy struggling with something in the bag to hear his name.

"Hey dipshit! I'm talkin' to you!" He looked up with annoyed cobalt eyes that called out, 'really now?' He grabbed a piece of newspaper on the floor and put it on the coffee table before he set down his own drink. "So, since it's your first time here at Pomona I'll tell you a few things. One: don't get drunk here. Tripp, if you even think you can get away with alcohol I'm skinning you alive and sending you back to Pennsylvania. Two: you both might want to invest in some thicker pillows. I remember the noise at Pomum just leaking through the ceiling, the floor, the walls, everything. It helps, trust me. Three: if things get too rough over there, you can stay here but only for a night," He said punctuating every word with his finger. "The parties sometimes get out of hand, stupid over-hyped freshmen, and you don't want to be around when things get out of hand. Four: no, I don't have condoms. When you're on your own you buy your own and use your own. And five: if you feel out of place," he said looking mainly at Hiccup, "just tell me. I'll introduce you to some people here. Just relax, take deep breaths, and enjoy the ride."

"What is this?" Tripp asked, "Sex ed?"

Damien then lunged over the table to give Tripp a swift punch in the gut. Satisfied that he left his brother reeling in pain, he asked, "Any other questions?"

"No, thanks though." Hiccup said.

"Hey, really though, I'm serious about you staying the night and introducing you to some people. Are you into frats kid?"

Recalling the movies and images of drunken men in togas, he replied, "not really."

"Good, I can't help you with frats," he said taking another sip from his soda can.

"Bro, what time is it?" He wheezed out.

"Just a little before four." Hiccup said looking at his phone before Damien could even look at a clock.

"We better get unpacking then," Tripp mused to himself.

"Don't you freshmen have an assembly or something?" Damien said standing up from the cardboard box.

"Oh crap, I forgot all about that! Hiccup we gotta go!"

Tripp picked up Hiccup by the wrist and they dashed out the door for the student assembly.

* * *

The freshmen assembly was perhaps the biggest waste of time Hiccup had ever experienced. The burning winds, that he had grown to hate, lashed at him while the sun beat down on his poor body. Whatever the Dean of Pomona University had to say was unheard to those who were not in fifty feet of the man. And, worst of all, he left his phone at Damien's room and he now needed to pick it up.

He lost himself in the campus, wandering around for what must have been an hour, until he stumbled upon the dormitory block. Aggravated and tired, he moved briskly to room 317 and gave three quick knocks on the door. No response. He knocked again but with more force and slower this time. No response. Hiccup was about to punch the door when it clicked open.

He looked up from the door and saw a student slightly taller than him. But it was not Damien.

"Uhh? Can I help you?" The student asked in a deep and rich voice.

"Is Damien home?" Hiccup asked, trying to ignore his deepest impulse to look behind the man and keep eye contact.

"No, but I'm his roommate. Do you need something?"

"Yeah, uhh, I left my phone here."

"Oh that thing? Give me a sec, he put a note on it and left it for his brother to pick it up. Are you Tripp?"

"No, I'm the owner of the phone."

The other student walked away and Hiccup watched him from the doorway. His russet skin glowed in the sunlight as he passed by a window to take something on the coffee table. He returned and brushed a lock of raven black hair to look at Hiccup. His light emerald eyes shone in comparison to his skin and raven black hair.

"Here's your phone."

"Thanks." The door closed on him very gently and he realized, "I forgot to thank him."

With nothing else to do, he walked back to his own dorm wondering who the stranger was.

**A/N: Well, who was that I wonder? Pfft, we all know who that was. But poor oblivious Hiccup! Oh well, all in good time. So what do you all think? Does Hiccup sound too whiny? Am I skimping out on physical character descriptions? Should I rate this M because Damien said a naughty word?**

**Rate, review, and give me your thoughts! You do, I'll give you a speedy response in return!**


	3. Prisms and Color

**Disclaimer: the characters of How to Train Your Dragon belong to Dreamworks**

**Everything else is by Travis Church **

The sun peeked its crimson colored eye over the horizon of Pomona, and with the sun, Hiccup peeked his eye over the covers of his bed. He yawned, collected the stale air of Pomum in his chest, and coughed. The air was so different here. When he woke up at home, the breeze smelt of wild flowers, ale, and breakfast; but here the wind reeked of sweat, beer, and…Hot Pockets?

His face twisted in confusion as he asked in his mind, "Hot Pockets?"

But he would not let the stench of Pomum ruin his soul, so he entered the petite bathroom and showered quickly. The water was lukewarm but he paid little attention to it as he watched the colors of daybreak pass through the window high above and crystallize on the droplets of water clinging to the shower curtain. He touched one of the little prisms and watched it attach to his finger while he gravitated away from the plastic veil.

The colors in this little drop fascinated him, entranced him, hypnotized him. He looked back to the drapery and began to connect the sprays together. The hues became stronger as he bonded the waters together. He was God! He commanded light, he made shapes, he gave meaning to the nonsense. And then he remembered his own constellations.

He touched his face, wondering if the colors hung to his own freckles. He cast the question away in shame and foolishness, reprimanding himself to the idea that his face can have the beauty of water. He twisted the knob, waited for the water to stop, and took the curtain in a vice grip and threw it to the side.

He ran the towel around his lanky body and after he sponged his auburn hair, he looked into the mirror. Dreamily, he wondered if his emerald eyes could capture the beams of color just like those droplets in the shower. He imagined his eyes shifting from emerald to lime green and down to forest green. But no such thing happened and so he left the mirror to its own devices.

Hiccup exited the bathroom and gently closed the door but yet still leave a slight opening as to let the hot mist out.

Unwilling to disturb his roommate, he tiptoed back to his room and carefully turned the handle of his door. Slithering in, he made not a single noise once inside and with surgical precision he shut his door.

His room glowed with a blood orange hue; the carpet, his bed, the walls, even the few possessions that scattered his room took on a dark rose tint. He moved to the suitcase nearest his closet and began to unpack. He spent last night in some pajamas in his backpack and he just felt too fatigued to go through his bags and catalogue everything. It seemed like too much work for him at the time. But now he had the time to honestly devote whatever mind power it took to sort out his belongings.

He began with the top layer and laid it out on his bed. That reminded him, "I need to get a desk or table or something flat so I can work on."

Resuming his work, he began with the many t-shirts he packed. A vast majority of them were green and it tickled his heart as he remembered why he loved the color. He didn't just love the color; he loved everything that it represented physically. Trees, farmland, the hills that shaped his village; he adored it all. But he also loved everything that it represented metaphorically: life, nature, the Earth.

"I'm pretty sure I have a bumper sticker for that last one," he chuckled internally.

But as he ran his fingers over the clothes his mind flashed to something else entirely. A black shirt reminded him of ebony hair. He brushed away the thought and walked over to pick up his coffee colored hoodie on the floor, but russet skin flashed before his eyes. Shaking his head he returned back to his suitcase and unfolded a light green shirt. When he looked down at it, heather green eyes filled his vision. Frustrated, he picked out a white shirt and jeans yanked his backpack and his keys and departed the dorm room.

His mind was in a furor and hazed with confusion.

"Who was that guy? Why do I even care? He's nobody, that's who," Hiccup huffed as he descended the stone staircase. As he left Pomum, he heard old bells bellowing in the morning air. As a child, he loved to see how far he could run before the church bells would stop running. Although he now outgrew this tradition, he still remembered his distances.

"Seven o'clock, my house to the Gobber's workshop," he smiled.

He slowed down and waited until all seven chimes were heard and when the sound settled in the air, he resumed walking.

The light, now yellow, glared in his face and he picked up his pace. He needed food and after that he needed to get to class; but food would have to come first. Hiccup imagined Tripp walking in front of him, guiding him around the campus, and so he crossed the campus green to the opposite side and approached a building.

He walked up to the Gothic styled structure, paying little attention to the unnecessary buttresses and ornately styled pillars, and approached, as Tripp called them, the "big ass wooden doors."

The moment Hiccup entered, he felt profound awe and extreme hunger at the exact same time. The hall was designed as if it were a cathedral: bright colors poured in from stained glass windows, the marble floors glistened underneath the light, and the ornamentation was beautiful albeit useless. The smells of food forced his stomach to moan at his discretion and self restraint.

He walked down to a line and grabbed a plate of eggs, sausages, and something called "fake-con." As he approached the cashier and handed his meal card and ID, the aroma of food intensified his awareness making the consumption of said food his first and only concern.

The only thought that did precede his carnal desire was where to sit. If he remembered secondary school correctly, you should always sit with friends. But his old friends, his only friends, were not here and so he tried to find a corner of a table and eat in unfortunate silence.

He truly did envy those who could laugh this early in the morning; they either had something to laugh at, and therefore be productive, or have someone to laugh with, and therefore be social. The call for someone or something to attract his attention soured his appetite but his stomach would have none of it, so he ate.

The food was nothing like he had at home, which may have been a good sign, but with it held a twang of loneliness.

"Excuse me?" a light female voice called out.

Hiccup looked up and saw a well dressed lady with her own tray of steaming food.

"I don't mean to offend you, but you must be one of the worst vegans on Earth."

He gave a quizzical look to the young girl who in response brushed her short blonde hair out her face to look at him. "What?"

"You eat meat and next to it you have substitute meat. What are you, some moralistic balancing scale?"

"What are you talking about?" She sulked and stabbed a piece of his bacon and his "other thing" and held it in front of his face. "So?"

"What decent person eats bacon and fake-con on the same plate?"

"Okay lady" he started to say while darkening his tone, "I just grabbed it. I got eggs because I like eggs, I got bacon because I like to have bacon with eggs, and I got whatever 'that' is," pointing a little to the left of his face, "because it looks good."

Her pale face softened while her tone remained suspicious. "You don't know what fake-con is?"

"No, do I have to?"

"It's fake bacon."

Hiccup stopped chewing the strip of false meat to question his protestor. "So what's it made of?"

"I'm," she thought for a moment and then said, "I'm not entirely sure."

"Alright then." Hiccup then looked down at the plate, sliding the fake-con to the side, and heard the sound of plastic meeting wood.

"I'm so sorry for interrupting you. I'm Elizabeth Lemon."

This time, he did not see an extended fist, but instead an outstretched hand. He gladly took the familiar greeting and shook it. "I'm Hiccup Haddock."

"Is your name really-"

"Yes," he stopped her short of the expected response, "yes it is."

"Sorry, I sounded really rude. I'm just not very good at this social kind of thing." Hiccup nodded in total understanding. "Can I sit here with you?"

"Sure, why not?"

She smiled and dusted the wooden seat before she pulled her tan skirt and sat down. "So why are you here at Pomona U?"

"I got this scholarship thing," he said as if it were nothing. "Gives me a full ride for the next four years and with benefits and stuff."

She gaped at the boy as he began to lance his eggs. "That's amazing! How?"

"I'm not so sure," he shrugged.

"Well, what are you going to do here?"

"Study," was the first and obvious response.

"No, I mean what are you going to major in?"

Hiccup didn't realize it until now, but he never officially chose a major. He always liked to draw but then again he was always interested in drawing buildings and at the same time he sometimes thought of doing something with engineering or at least something with metal.

"I don't know yet."

"Well I hope you figure out soon. You don't want to be one of those people."

"What people?" Hiccup inquired as he sipped from a cup of grape juice.

She carefully explained to Hiccup the outcome of students who had not chosen a major. They were called 'stories and studs' which was a polite epithet for 'history and studies' majors. According to her, History Majors were people who "liked stuff" and were overly general in their outlook in life; although there would be the occasional person who liked history and that person would then become a professor. And "studies" majors were the stupid classes that had no real meaning or value in the current world, which included the American Contemporary Studies or Modern Film Studies. They usually were filled by people who could not be any more specific on what they wanted to do here or the athletes who slipped into Pomona with a 2.3 GPA.

"That would be failing half of your classes and barely passing the others," she informed.

Hiccup could feel the contempt irradiating off of her body.

"So, anyway, what's your schedule for the day?"

"Well, I've gotta go have class."

"It's not really class, more of a," she began to twirl her hair as she searched for the right word, "meeting. You go in, your professors hand you the syllabus and the books you need and you have until next week to get all the materials you need for the year. Pomona does this so that way if you need to order a calculator online or some textbook that is no longer available here, then you have some time to receive it in the mail. They really put in a lot of forethought into this campus, don't you agree?"

He nodded his head and finished his breakfast.

"Can I see what classes you have?" He agreed to her request and pulled out a white folded sheet of paper.

"Hmm, it doesn't look like we have classes together. Oh no! Wait, I lied! You're taking Euro 14A at the same time as I do! Wait," her face no longer elated, "How can you be in a Sophomore class as a Freshman?"

As she handed back his schedule, he replied, "I'm from Ireland."

"That doesn't really explain it, but we'll have a class together! I really enjoyed meeting you and I hope to see you later Hiccup!" She said as she stood up with her tray in hand.

With that, she left the hall and he had a feeling that today was going to be a good day. He too exited the dining hall in good spirits and looked at his first class.

"Philosophy and Theology. Room 309. Monday and Tuesday 8 AM to 9 AM. Thursday 8 AM to 10:30 AM. Friday 10 AM to 11 AM."

He searched for a campus map or billboard and learned that his class was on the East side of the campus green. He did not want to be tardy, so he began a mild jog across the green.

The green was not like any sort of Earth Hiccup had encountered before. It was hard, compact, and a sickly color of grass. It was better for running on than the hills and pasture that he lived on in Berk. But that, by any measure, did not mean that he liked the campus green. He just found it helpful.

He left the green and went onto the concrete pathway searching for the three hundred building. According to the map he briefly glanced at, the building was supposed to be south of the library. He found the library, ignored his curiosity to explore, and moved southbound.

On the outside, the three hundred building was nothing remarkable. Same high Renaissance architecture, same windows, same "big ass wooden doors." And on the inside there was nothing remarkable either. Corkboards were at every intersection and stairwell of the edifice and fliers of seminars and book clubs were on every other door. Nothing outstanding.

Hiccup found room 309 and saw a line outside the door. He stood at the back and waited for his turn. An older looking student handed out a stapled pack of papers and said abruptly, "sit wherever." And so he did, taking a seat somewhere in the middle row of the box shaped classroom. The natural light was reasonable and there were enough colorful decorations to keep his eye busy when the class would inevitably become slow and dry.

But his eye caught something completely different. The same student that he had met at Damien's dorm walked into the room and took a seat off to his left in the row ahead of him.

"Good morning students," an aged man spoke as he entered the room. "I am professor Ilias Ibn Khaldun al Safi and I shall be teaching Philosophy: an Application of Theology in a Philosophical Environment. I have received my Bachelor's Degree in education at the University of Isfahan, Iran and a Doctoral Degree in Theology and Middle Eastern Studies at Yale University and then later a PhD in Philosophy. I have been part of the Pomona University faculty for the past six years and today shall be my seventh. I had originally taught Middle Eastern Studies and I have done a series of lectures titled Economics: the Study of Ancient Merchants and Their Effects on Ancient Economies and I continue to do so. Please do read the packet and sign the contract at the end of the packet."

After that, his words blurred together as his mind tried to strategize how he could talk to the stranger. But a wild arm gesture from Professor Ilias Ibn Khaldun al Safi caught his attention and forced him to hear the final part of his introductory speech.

"Each unit has a purpose and to introduce you to that unit, I have included a quote. For each unit, I would like that each one of you write a short page about the quote and how it relates to the unit."

"Excuse me professor?" A student adamantly declared in the front row. "There is no quote for unit one."

"I was about to get to that," he said glowering at the student. "Unit one's theme is about fate, not faith as in belief and religion, but fate as in destiny. Your quote for analysis is this, 'Fate pulls us together, not for its sadistic pleasures or some celestial sport, but for our own good will.'" He paused for a moment as he let the class furiously write it down on whatever paper they had available. "That is your assignment which you have until Monday. I do hope you finish. Good day students! You are now dismissed by your professor and you are now free to excuse yourselves!"

Hiccup sat up and put away the packet but when he looked up the stranger left. He cursed himself for not focusing on him and ran out the classroom hoping to see him. No such luck occurred.

As he left for his next class, he began to contemplate the quote he just learned. "Fate pulls us together, not for its sadistic pleasures or some celestial sport, but for our own good will." Was fate on his side?

* * *

Hiccup finished the rest of his classes for the day, carrying a large stack of papers in his bag, and decided to just relax for the day.

Tripp, on the other hand, would have none of that.

"Dude, what are you doing?" He asked Hiccup as he threw himself on the couch.

"Nothing," he murmured from under a cushion.

"Get up! I'll show you the frats and stuff!" Hiccup's mind flashed of naked men running through hallways and giving each other…well Hiccup never stuck around to figure out what happened next.

"No. I'm tired and-"

"We'll need to stop by my bro's place first," Tripp cut in. "His roomie's apparently part of the secret society 'Dragons D'Alacala' and from what I've heard," he leaned and dropped his voice, "They've got a sweet ass theater set up. But don't tell anyone. I've heard rumors that they do some sacrificial ritual thing, killing lambs and burning stuff. If they get busted then everything they've got goes away. Forever."

Hiccup, by some unknown instinct, followed Tripp despite his weariness. They walked briskly out into the warm fall air. The sun died down into a warm ember and placed its gentle heat on the back of the wind. Hiccup felt the dusk light brush feathers of autumn around him as the golden light draped Pomona.

He followed Tripp up to his brother's room and gave the traditional three raps on the door. Before he could even pull his hand back, Damien opened the door but instead did not give the sign to go inside. He carefully locked the door and ushered them outside Olea.

Tripp asked, "Where's that other guy? Isn't he supposed to be showing us-"

"Shut up," he curtly said. "He told me that I can bring you guys if you don't talk. So shut up." When Damien was fully satisfied by the silence he continued, "He said that they meet inside the unused antechambers under the library."

"That's awesome!" Tripp exclaimed but he silenced by a punch to the gut from his brother.

"What'd I tell you? Hey, Hiccup," he jolted at the mention of his name, "Tell your roommate to shut up."

Hiccup never did tell Tripp to shut up but Damien still lead them to the library. They opened large oak doors and began to navigate the labyrinth of stairwells and bookshelves once inside. As they circled around large piles of manuscripts, Hiccup felt a sickness climb over him. The smell of ancient pages and the stale air created a gas, thick and heavy. He wondered if this is what mausoleums smelled of, the past universe isolated forever in a crate.

They finally approached a dead end after all the winding corridors of bookshelves. He pulled a book from the top shelf, placed it on the lowest possible shelf, and gently slid out a book from the middle. He waited and both freshmen jumped when they heard something like a gun click behind them.

But they opened their eyes and saw that the bookcase swung away from them and shaking off their fears, they followed Damien through the false door. Halfway through a dimly lit corridor, the door shut behind them and Hiccup feared that perhaps he had wandered into a den of danger.

Regardless, Damien steered them closer to some unknown noise. The sound boomed about them while a strange unnatural light bounced around the chamber. The fickle light drew him to, what he thought at the time was his own doom, but after turning a corner he was pleasantly surprised.

It was a miniature crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling by some ornate golden chain. Damien stopped ahead and pulled the lowest crystal from the chandelier and waited. Hiccup waited for the snap of a firearm but instead heard the shifting of a wooden panel.

"Who are you?" A gruff voice called behind some invisible partition.

"We are neither travelers nor visitors, we are neither solders nor mercenaries; we are but guests on the behalf of an ally." Damien's long monologue ended and with that a set of snaps, clicks, and clanks could be heard in the elongated corridor.

Silence for a moment. Tripp subconsciously inched towards his brother while Hiccup prepared for the worst.

A small segment of the stone wall pushed outwards and slid to the left. A large, muscled man motioned for them to enter and when they did, he pulled the stone wall and shut it with a very large iron handle.

Light blinded Hiccup; a light so foreign and strange that he only read myths and dreams of it. A large chandelier hung in the center of the antechamber and other crystal lights were strung about the room. It seemed that these people had recreated daylight and trained it to become even stronger. People moved in this daylight; talking, dancing, enjoying themselves while their bodies fed off of the light. They were all different in shape, race, gender, and to some extent age.

"Damien!" A warm bass voice called out.

Hiccup was shocked to say the least. The stranger, the one he had been so intent on learning about, was walking towards him. He glowed in the artificial light and his strides were poised and elegant.

"Hi Damien. I see you brought some guests. Care to introduce them?"

"The blonde is my brother, Tripp. And the pale one is my brother's roommate, Hiccup."

Not disturbed by the comment about his skin tone, he anticipated the obvious question, "Yes, my name is Hiccup."

"I…wasn't about to ask about your name." Hiccup flushed in embarrassment, "But I was about to say how interesting it is. Here, I'm sorry. Let me give you a tour."

He showed the trio the numerous antechambers that the society took hold of. As they went farther from the entrance, the lighting became less and less abundant and soon it was a luxury.

Tripp and Damien splintered away from Hiccup and the stranger and left for their own amusements. They were wandered the antechambers mindlessly until Hiccup finally decided to break the silence.

"Excuse me."

"Hmm?" The man said looking up from an aquarium attached to a garden.

"I never asked," awkwardness boiled the blood in his face causing him to blush madly, "But what's your name? I forgot to thank you for my phone and-"

"You can call me whatever you like," he interrupted his spiel.

Hiccup paused for a moment as the unknown man toyed with fish in a tank. "Why don't you just tell me your real name?"

"Because," he continued to play with the silver scaled fish, "that part of my life is over."

Hiccup never understood why some people changed their names. It was like abandoning a part of their life. What happens when they remember something as their first name? Do they sit back and enjoy the vision as if it were a movie? Or do they try to ignore it as if it were a nightmare? Do they even remember their past name and the life with it?

Hiccup walked over to the tanned person and watched him gently stroke the fish inside the glass tank. "Then can I call you something silly?"

His ears perked up and looked at the boy with his beryl eyes. He saw the light refracting through the aquarium dance on his skin and crystallize in his emerald eyes. "I've never been called something silly. Why not?" He flashed an almost toothless grin.

"How about," he paused for a moment to contemplate the opportunities, "Tanner?" 'Tanner' looked at his skin and then back at Hiccup with a somber gaze. He saw the emerald green eyes transform into a deep forest green hue as he shamefully said, "Never mind then."

'Tanner' resumed his game with the fish, cradling the creature in his palm and then releasing it.

"Then, may I call you Toothless?"

He stopped, gave an almost gummy grin and laughed at the boy. "Yes, you may call me Toothless."

**A/N: OMG I'm done! This feels like the longest chapter I've ever written. Not because of the word count but because I'm a dirty procrastinator.**

**A thank you shout-out for JigokuHana and Assassin of Oblivion for being so adventurous to keep up with this crap.**

**Now we can see the friendship between Hiccup and Toothless (or 'Tanner') develop and we'll start to see the HTTYD characters pop in soon. They will be an integral part of this plot I'm trying to create. I'm absolutely certain that we'll see Astrid and her thoughts on Hiccup's newest found friendship in Toothless. And I think the next chapter will be also have some culture clash and Stoic's reaction to Hiccup attempting to adapt to the culture (keyword is **_**attempt**_**).**

**WHO WANTS TO SEE HICCUP PUT ON SOME SKINNY JEANS AND GIVE AN EPIC RANT ABOUT CLOTHES!**

**Rate, review, give me your thoughts, and answer the question!**


	4. A Lotus and Jeans

**Disclaimer: the characters of How to Train Your Dragon belong to Dreamworks**

**Everything else is by Travis Church**

**Note: When you see this symbol (1) it means that you are suggested to go to this link (www(DOT)youtube(DOT)com/watch?v=Pi4A9bPDvTc) and play this song. I had the toughest time trying to find the right piece for that scene, and if you read it without the song and read it with the song you will have two different experiences.**

Hiccup was surprised by Tanner, "Oops, I mean Toothless," he said mentally. They both came from Ireland and were here because of a scholarship. While Hiccup arrived on behalf of Pomona's full ride scholarship for international students, Toothless came here through the Dragons D'Alacala.

"The Dragons," he explained, "Is a society devoted to cultural immersion and something. They started up about three hundred or four hundred years ago in, I think, Spain and were originally devoted to sending people to military schools or naval schools. The Spanish needed troops and sailors and so an ultra-nationalistic group called the Dragons D'Alacala popped up. It was funded by some old guy who liked to kill things and then his kids continued to fund the Dragons and so on. Now there are like hundreds of families all over the world who are either connected to the Dragons by membership or they're benefactors. Today it's not as military minded but it still operates out of the principle, 'evinco quod ut civilis.' Which I think means explore and be social." He shrugged as he finished the sentence.

"Interesting."

"Not really. I got chosen to go wherever I wanted as long as there's a Dragon operating in the college. I saw California and took the ticket here in a heartbeat."

"Yeah, I didn't get that choice." They navigated through the numerous antechambers in a peaceable silence. "Toothless?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are we going?"

He shrugged, "What do you wanna see? If you think about it, we probably have it."

Hiccup thought for a moment, considering his heart's desires. "Do you have cars in here?"

Toothless's ears perked behind his shaggy hair, "What kind?"

"Any kind, doesn't really matter."

"Follow me." And so he did. They moved through large stone archways and into larger corridors. Hiccup saw a sickly light growing in the chambers and he thought he heard irate buzzing in the distance. Toothless approached a large metal door and pushed it open letting in a flood of fluorescent light.

The stench of diesel and rust rushed through Hiccup's mind as he saw what must have been the oldest and fastest collection of cars he'd ever seen.

"How do you people have a Ford T-1 next to a Ducati?"

"Quite honestly, I'm not sure."

Hiccup's jaw fell as he approached a Lotus Europa S. His fingers graced the metal shell while he marveled at its sleek design. His reflection in the glass was perfectly clear but that did not obscure his ability to see inside the machine.

"Do you want to go inside?" Toothless called out from behind him.

"Can," he stuttered, "Can I?"

"Sure," Toothless threw a pair of keys to the boy, "Don't scratch anything."

Hiccup fumbled with the car door before it opened gracefully. He gently lowered himself down into the seat of the car and felt absolute wonder in its design. The interior was just as beautiful as the exterior.

"Hiccup, you wanna take this for a spin?"

If his eyes could burst out of his skull, it would have done so now. His pupils dilated with the prospect of watching the speedometer rise with his spirits. The wind rushing through his hair. The world slowing as he accelerated. Gods knew how much joy he could experience.

But something wracked through his skull. This had a strange hybrid stick shift and he never learned to drive stick, let alone learn some complex hybrid in a few seconds. He never developed the ability to know how many kilometers equaled miles, and by the looks on the panel-it was written only in kilometers. And he was from Ireland! European cars had the driver's seat on the left and they drove on the left side of the road; this was far different from how Americans drove.

It dawned on him that there would be no way he could use this car or even navigate the city because it was only his second day here in Pomona. It crushed his soul.

Toothless felt something break in front of him and he asked the boy, "If you still want to take a ride, I can drive you."

"What?"

"It's no problem, really."

"I couldn't."

"Oh come on, how many people get to say that they've rode in a Lotus before?" Hiccup's lips began to curl into a light smile. "How 'bout it?" Toothless extended a hand and Hiccup took it and as he was lifted carefully out of the car, he strode to the passenger seat. He closed his door while Toothless did the same. Toothless placed in a key and when the car roared to life a flash of navy pulsed throughout the cabin. He steered the car towards the end of the garage and pulled out a device from his pocket. The doors slowly opened and when there was enough space for the car to pass through, Toothless maneuvered the car out the door and into the cool night air.

They drove mindlessly around the campus and stood at a stoplight preparing to enter the California highway.

**(1)** Yellow, red, green, go!

The colors changed in perfect symmetry of time. They dashed out of the intersection and began to dash through up into a highway entrance. They sped up and Hiccup felt himself leave the atmosphere. Toothless injected the car into a flow of rushing automobiles that left streaks of red. The red streaks rose in number and as they continued, Hiccup saw yellow and gold lights approach them like golden chariots. But these chariots were not handled by war mongers. They had their own paths and he had his. The chariots rose in number and frequency, dashing and overwhelming his eyes. In the night they were like shooting stars while they were stationary travelers. He watched the pylons jump in between the partition that separated the streaks from the chariots. But they were like ghosts, indivisible to mortals. Ghosts in time. The dashes in the roadway blurred into nothingness as Toothless accelerated even more. The glass buildings were massive monuments to humanity as they refracted and twisted the colors in the night. The reds and yellows and gold lights mixed with the pale moon on the mirrored canvas. A living canvas. He saw blocks of green with white, there were no words. Just color. There was no meaning to the mixes of color, they lived and breathed. They had a soul just like Hiccup and Toothless. Hiccup saw beauty dance around him.

Then the colors stopped suddenly. There was only one color; the amber of the ceiling hailing down to the floor and bouncing off the concrete cavern. Large trucks hulked in between the small car. But Toothless raced beyond these large behemoths and past equally sized machines. Then he glided past, what Hiccup perceived as, slow moving mass and entered a strange vein in the tunnel. The feeling of gravity weighed down upon the two. The Earth had no intention of letting these two fly away. The corridors became smaller and more diminished. It was no longer a single lane parallel to another opposite moving lane. It was a single one-way cavern. There was not a single being or machine with them. It was only them. Toothless pushed the vehicle again and Hiccup felt the force of the universe pull back on him. His weight doubled and tripled as they approached a thin pale light. Then the car made a large turn following the tunnel up and around. Hiccup's weight quadrupled as they approached the soft glow. The weight felt unbearable as Toothless pushed the car again even faster. The acceleration pushed him back into his seat and his shut his eyes as they jettisoned out of the barrel.

Hiccup did not die; he thanked the Gods, and decided to peer at his surroundings. A milky white overcame him and as he looked up, the moon radiated downwards onto the mountain road. He chose to roll down the window and he was greeted by streams of cool wind dancing on his face. The gentle mountain air lulled him into a state of stillness and tranquility. He let his eyes glaze over for a moment until a flash of unholy yellow blasted into his pupils. The demonic gold light flashed again, and again, and again in perfect rhythm and time. The rhythmic light pulsed with his heartbeat and slowly he rose out of the peace. He focused into the real world and saw what made the lights go in perfect time. Lamp posts. They descended the roadway and Hiccup marveled at the mixture of yellow from the lamp posts and white from the moon. The downwards slope ended and with it the lamp posts. They rushed into a forest roadway and dashed through past the flora. Toothless turned off the headlights and the glowing halo that guided them disappeared. But the circle was not needed in the woods, the moon graced them with plenty of light. They approached a relatively straight pathway and Toothless pushed the car again, forcing it to run as fast as the men crafted it dreamed it to be.

The trees stopped and instead of large Redwoods and Firs to the side of Hiccup, was a glistening lake. A natural mirror that the moon used to create her beauty. Off to his side, he saw lights. A human kind of light. They accelerated and rose up a more dramatic slope than Hiccup had ever experienced. And then Toothless made a gentle turn to the left and slowed down.

What beauty! What splendor! A bridge of lights! A construction only matched in shape by the Golden Gate Bridge and rivaled in beauty by the Manhattan Bridge. Long metal ropes gently held the platform above the midnight lake while the lights hung down the sides of the massive strings. Time inched forward and Hiccup could feel the glory of the light over take his body. He felt no pressure as he ascended from his mortal body. He felt no shame as he was hypnotized by the glowing amber bulbs. His soul was free! Free at last, free at last! Hiccup looked over to Toothless and muttered some words in appreciation. Toothless took those words to his heart and would forever take those words to his grave. He set this boy free.

In a final act of joy, Toothless thrust the car into its highest speed. The lights blurred into nothing and so they hollered in joy. The night sky transformed to pitch black leaving the stars to shine brighter than they have ever shone. Every emotion, every color, everything mixed into one and submerged their senses. When they passed over the bridge, the car slowly inched to a standstill. They both sighed in elation and rested for a moment underneath the midnight sky.

"Thank you." Hiccup whispered as the bridge lighting dimmed behind them.

"You're welcome," and so they drove back to Pomona to ease off the release of flight.

* * *

Hiccup forgot how he got back in his bed. The world slowly became more defined and his vision sharpened.

"Was that all a dream?" He thought as he stood up from his bed, "That couldn't be. It was just too real."

He rose up and took a blue shirt and a pair of shorts so he had something to change into after his shower. Then the blue lights flashing in the car, the colors racing past him, "Toothless," he absentmindedly said. It was no dream! It was real!

"I rode in a Lotus! I had the time of his life in that car! I met Toothless." For some reason that last thought made him extremely happy. "I met Toothless," he said again.

He gave himself a quick shower and dried off rapidly. Finished dressing himself, he threw his dirty clothes back into his room and headed for the couch.

"Good morning roomie!" Tripp said from the couch.

"Morning Tripp," Hiccup replied.

"So," he took time to draw out the word, "What did you do with Damien's roomie?"

"We took a ride and we just drove."

"In what?"

"A Lotus Europa S."

"No way! That's sick! Wait," he paused and eased back from Hiccup, "Are you kidding?"

"Nope, the Dragons have this entire garage of cars."

"Next time, I need to be there. Oh Hiccup," Tripp said as he stood up from his seat, "You got a call last night from… Astrid Hofferson? You know this person?"

"Oh crap! I forgot to call her! Can you give me a sec?" Hiccup ran to his room and locked the door behind him. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and began to press a set of numbers by heart."

The dial tone sang out from his phone before a young voice asked, "Hello?"

"I'm so sorry Astrid." He began to apologize, "I was a little busy last night."

"Well I'm not." She coldly said. "I'm kidding, how are you doing?"

"Okay I guess," he said as he sat down. "I just got the work and stuff for my classes and I think I'll do well. Until finals at least. How's Galway?"

"It's great! Fishlegs is here and we share a class in mathematics. Which is a blessing for me at least. Have you met anyone at your school?"

"My roommate's nice and he has a brother who's also here at Pomona. But his brother has a roommate who is part of the Dragons D'Alacala, some secret club thing, and we've really connected. I think."

"Hiccup?" Astrid's voice suddenly darkened. "You need to be careful."

"Why?"

"The Dragons D'Alacala aren't exactly loved here in Ireland. I think it's because of their terrorist "participation" against the Irish Republican Army. They tried to take Dublin by force and threatened to burn it down if they didn't get some part of Northern Ireland. You should be careful."

"I will, don't worry. He's not a terrorist."

"Not that you know of. You're in a different nation with what sounds like two people you can hide behind. The consulate isn't going to protect you when they realize you're friends with a Dragon."

"He's not a terrorist! Geez Astrid," he huffed, "Lighten up."

"I'm, I'm sorry Hiccup. Look I gotta go, my class is starting soon. I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah, see ya." Hiccup hung up and threw his phone on the bed. Refusing to look at the device he chose to just leave it there and return talking to Tripp.

"Hey, what's up man? You look a little down."

"Nothing. It's nothing really." Hiccup began to run the conversation in his mind again. According to Astrid, the Dragons D'Alacala were against Irish independence and if someone in the consulate were to find out, what could happen? Could they withhold his passport? Prevent him from renewing his student visa? Would they even cooperate with him? And Astrid was right, he was alone. Other than Toothless, there's no one who shared his…something. How did he and Toothless bond? What happened last night that allowed them to become close?

He needed to immerse himself in this new landscape. He was once nothing and he swore that he could never go back.

"Tripp, where's the nearest clothing store?"

"Uhh, well you can always go to the mall but that's like an hour on foot. I'd suggest that you go to the shopping district. It's on Third Street and Brighton and you don't know where that is." He said as realization hit him. "I'll get my brother to show you around."

"Can't you do it?"

"I need to pick up my books! I'm sorry, maybe later I'll show you the skate spots."

Hiccup sighed and said, "It's okay, I'll see you later." With that, Hiccup exited the dorm room and left for Damien and Toothless's room.

The mid-morning air was fairly kind: no ruthless winds lashing at him, no sun beating down at him, and the air was cool with the familiar scent of ocean water. He entered Olea and rose up the stairwell taking in the peace of the upperclassmen. He knocked swiftly on the door marked "318" and waited patiently.

"Hiccup? What are you doing here?" Toothless said when he opened the door.

"Uhh, I need someone to bring me to the shopping district. Is Damien here?"

"No, he's doing something private with Tommy."

"Oh, never mind then." Hiccup then began to leave the room when he heard Toothless call out.

"Hiccup, if you need someone to show you around, I'll help you out."

"No! I don't want to be a-"

"It's okay, really. I owe you one." Hiccup raised his brow at what was just said. Before he could question what he meant by, "I owe you one," Toothless came back wearing a grey hoodie and he proceeded to lock his door. "So where do you need to go?"

"Tripp said," he paused to recollect the address he was given, "Third Street and Brighton."

"Wow, Tripp has good taste."

As they walked to the shopping district, they spent the time talking about random things of their life. What they did for fun, did they find soccer fun, asking whether it was called soccer or football where they grew up, and other things. But like any other friendship, they had their differences. Toothless loves to eat fish but Hiccup did not, while Hiccup loves to watch sports, Toothless preferred to be part of the sport, but they could both agree on a single topic: eel is nasty.

Aside from the small debate about, "which is better: chocolate eggs or chocolate rabbits," they were very playful and friendly towards each other. The arguments were humorous and the jokes were lame, but they enjoyed the company they both shared. It seemed as if the friendship was already built. Like someone wrote it to be that way.

They walked into a store that sold young men's clothing. The styles ranged from extremely casual to mildly business casual, but it was all reasonably priced. Hiccup was a little surprised to see colors and patterns that were not regularly used. Unsymmetrical blocks, checker patterns, slanted stripes, and bright neon colors all caught him off guard. But perhaps the clothes that received much of his attention were the pink and purple ones.

"What kind of person," Hiccup began his protest, "would wear a tight fitting pink v-neck?" He then held the offending shirt up to Toothless.

He then replied, "Does it matter?"

"I guess not then. But how is this attractive?"

"It depends on who is wearing it. You shouldn't wear it."

"Why?"

"Because you don't have anything to show."

Hiccup and Toothless laughed at each other and continued to search for clothing. He found some interesting print shirts, a few blank shirts, and even a v-neck under Toothless's supervision. But his voyage into the denim section was fairly conservative. He strayed away from anything black, grey, over dyed, and frayed.

"Hiccup," Toothless said looking at his phone, "You need some time so you can try on the clothes."

"Yeah," he said from behind a clothing rack, "Where are the dressing rooms?"

"Over there," he said pointing to the far end of the store.

"Uhh," Hiccup slightly reddened as he tried to ask, "can you, you know, come with me?"

"Why?" Toothless said with an incredulous look.

"Well, I," he cleared his throat, "I just don't feel comfortable, alone."

"Okay, I'll go with you."

They navigated past the other racks and patrons and entered the fitting room area. There were about ten or twelve private stalls and Hiccup decided to take stall number seven.

"Hand me the pants." Toothless threw a pair of jeans over the door. "Thanks!"

"So they fit?"

"Yeah, hand me the next pair. Huh." Hiccup paused for a moment, "This one looks a little thin, and flimsy, and small."

"Just try them on, maybe you'll like them?"

"Okay. Wait, how do you get your feet through the leg openings?"

"Point your toes down."

"Thanks. Aghh!" Hiccup screamed in fear.

"What's wrong?" Toothless asked while trying to jostle the door knob open.

"I can feel my thighs!"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Yes! Okay, I can deal with feeling my thighs. How do you zip these up?"

"Just pull," Toothless paused to let Hiccup understand, "as hard as you can."

"Well I don't see how you," he trailed off but then screamed, "Ouch!"

"What is it?"

"The zipper caught my!"

Toothless slapped his forehead with his palm, "Don't tell me…"

"God! I hate these pants!"

"Lemme just see them. It can't be that bad."

Hiccup stumbled out of the dressing room door almost falling out of the stall. He attempted to regain his footing, trying to swallow as much air as he could. The denim clung to his body in a merciless sort of way, his veins adopted the dark blue shade of the fabric, and the fly remained unzipped. Toothless tried not to laugh at the spectacle as Hiccup started to curse the clothing.

"This is awful! I hate pants! I'm wearing only shorts for the rest of my life! How can someone sit down in these? I can barely fit into this and these aren't even on my hip. They're sagging! What's the point of that? To show the world my tramp stamp or the absence of my tramp stamp? I don't need to tell the world that I'm not a tramp! I'm not! These are way too low on me! And!" He stopped and blanched. "What if I'm hard?"

Toothless could not hold it in any longer. The scene was just too much for him.

"I can't be walking around with a," he paused to watch Toothless fall on the floor howling in ecstasy. "What the hell are you laughing about?"

"You," he said wiping a tear of joy away, "Are amazing. Here, do you want the jeans?"

"Hell no!" Hiccup furiously cried.

"Then take them off."

Hiccup returned back to the stall and outside, Toothless heard the sound of tearing fabric. "The key," he crooned behind the door, "In finding a good pair of skinny jeans for guys is to make sure there's a button fly."

When the boy exited the stall, he was red with hate. He threw the jeans at him and pointed at the pants with abhorrence and growled with gritted teeth, "Screw jeans."

Hiccup grabbed the clothes he did approve of and stomped out the fitting rooms. Toothless looked at the jeans he still held and threw them back into the stall, laughing while he tried to find Hiccup in the store.

Aside from the jeans fiasco, it turned out to be a very good day.

**A/N: So I'm sorry for the song part being so choppy. I tried to write it as I heard it and I had to keep on adding to it so it would fill up the time until the transition. It's an experimental thing that I wanted to test out. The music part was inspired by ****How to Charm Your Dragon**** by Astrid Elphaba Lovegood and how she used music in her own writing. I suggest you go check it out and if you're a music person (or a bando like me) then you'll love it.**

**It also took me some time to write Hiccup's rant on skinny jeans. He just told me that if I ever try to do that again, he will kill me and there's not even Toothless can change his mind. Sorry guys and gals.**

**Next chapter! We will definitely see Stoic and his views on Hiccup! I promise! I just couldn't squeeze Hiccup (PANTS PUN FTW) having a conversation with Stoic at the last minute because this is already enough for you guys to handle (AND I'M A DIRTY LAZY WRITER).**

**A big thanks to Alana-kittychan, thehuman13, eliasdarklight for now jumping on board with the crazy. And anon reviewer ImHere, where ever you are, thank you! And a just as big thanks to all the people who voted and gave me their thoughts of having Hiccup in skinny jeans.**

**Rate, review, and give me your thoughts! **


	5. Misconceptions on Physiology

**Disclaimer: the characters of How to Train Your Dragon belong to Dreamworks**

**Everything else is by Travis Church**

They came back to Hiccup's room and although Toothless offered him good night, Hiccup protested and said that he should be polite and walk him back to his dormitory.

Toothless did not object.

Both continued on their way to Olea continuing on their conversations.

To Hiccup, Toothless seemed to be a part of him, in a fraternal-not-a-loving-soul-mate kind of way. He shared a few of the interests that he had, was genuinely interested about the younger student, and never harbored anything against him. It was like he was picking up on a long lost friend.

They approached the door, and like any well mannered host, Toothless offered something to drink inside and Hiccup accepted so long as it was not caffeinated.

They both entered the dorm room and were surprised by what was on the couch.

Damien was making out with someone. Groping the…yes the ass, there was no doubt that Damien was groping someone's ass. And this person had no problem playing was gripping his shirt in their fist. It looked to be a slow, yet lusty, kiss at a quick glance.

But something was off about the scene. Something about the shortness of that person's hair, the light tan against Damien's fair skin, the slightly filling muscular form, the lack of curvature, the oddly deep groaning, something about all of this was off putting. Then it hit Hiccup, the person was not very feminine in movements or vocalizations; in fact this person was not very feminine at all.

Damien was kissing… a guy.

Toothless broke the surrealism of the moment by asking, "Dude?"

The two clamored off of each other and almost fell to the floor at the question.

"Hey," the Damien said as he dusted himself off, "What's going on?"

"Nothing, uhh," Toothless looked over to the unknown, "We haven't met before."

"I'd be surprised if we did." The stranger stood up and walked to Toothless to shake his hand.

Toothless never shook his hand. "Who are you?"

"He's Tommy," Damien said as he sprang up from the couch.

"So, I don't think we've met." The man named Tommy said casually in a rich baritone. "But I think I saw you one time," he scratched his light tanned temple as he searched for the memory, "The Raptors game, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Toothless said vaugely.

"Hiccup can I talk to you for a sec?" Damien pulled the young man outside the room without his word or say.

"I need you and Gatsby over there to not talk about what you just saw."

"Gatsby?"

"Like the Great Gatsby the character, wait what do you call him?"

"Toothless."

He raised his eyebrow but shook off the confusion. "Okay, whatever. I just need you to promise that you don't tell Tripp about this."

"Why?"

Damien gulped down a breath and calmed himself down. "Tripp, he takes things differently than most of us. He doesn't just do stuff, he rationalizes it, finds reasons, uses it for something. He doesn't understand the meaning of impulse because he's never needed it." The older student began to run his fingertips over the tattoo designs on his arm. "When I got my right arm sleeved, Tripp wanted to get a tattoo. Not a tiny one on the shoulder, not one on the back, not one under the nape; no he wanted a big ass tattoo on his leg: one with intricate details, big colors, and layered images. Just because I had one. Dad freaked out, I told him Hell no, and Stone only made it worse by suggesting he have some whisky to numb the pain. That idiot! Alcohol thins the blood, and if Tripp would bleed," he gripped his jaw line and sighed deeply. "I can't, I couldn't, I wouldn't. He's my brother and that guy in there," he turned around, "I love him and Tripp could never understand that. No, he'd accept it but he wouldn't understand why I love a guy instead of some girl. He wouldn't be able to rationalize it. He'd have to fabricate some reason. He might take it the wrong way, he might use it for the wrong reasons, I don't want to know what he'd do. You understand right?"

Hiccup nodded, if only to appease the man.

"Thanks, and don't worry. Tommy's a nice guy. He's not on crack, have AIDS, or do some weird gay thing when in public. He likes cars, hates golf, and thinks chili is God's gift to the world. You'd like him," he ended with a thin smile that glowed on his pale features.

They returned and found Toothless and Tommy still standing and talking about something.

"Hey Damien, Mars loves that thing you use in the bathtub."

"Loufa?" The brother asked incredulously.

"Mars?" Hiccup decided suddenly to figure out who this person was.

"Yeah, you'll think it's stupid but when I was a kid I'd pretend that my wagon was the Mars Rover. This guy over here," giving him a light punch to the arm, "He did the exact same thing!" They both shared a laugh, almost similar to the one that Hiccup and Toothless shared, and he felt a little awkward not knowing what to think.

Hiccup tried to step in, "So what are you doing at Pomona?"

"I major in physics but I'm part of the ROTC program. It's fun, well as fun as running around like a maniac in an obstacle course can get." He laughed and rubbed a star tattoo that was on the top part of his inner forearm. He inattentively stroked the edges with his left hand and said, "So now it's my third year and I'm almost done, how 'bout you?"

"Freshman," Hiccup succinctly said.

"You'll love it here." He clasped an identical star tattoo that was on the left arm and did the exact same motions. "What's your name?"

"Hiccup Haddock."

"Kick ass name," he extended a fist but sensing the discomfort, Tommy changed it into a hand which he gladly shook.

"Sorry, but I have to go now." Hiccup said after shaking his hand.

"It's okay, I'll see you around."

"Nice meeting you Tommy, bye Damien and," looking at Toothless he said, "Bye Toothless."

He left the room and the group wondering who on Earth was Toothless.

* * *

The next day, Hiccup decided to have breakfast alone. His roommate was asleep, it was nice and early in the morning, and he just wanted some time to himself.

He entered the cafeteria and took random items from the food line and quickly took a seat.

There were few people here; some with books open, some with phones out, but they were all alone. Isolated. Individuals. Lepers. He was amongst allies.

He looked down to his plate and saw something missing, so he ran back to the condiment counter and grabbed a pack of orange jelly.

As a boy, citrus fruits were like treasures in his little town. The fruits were always such a hassle to transport up and by the time they got to the nearest supermarket, they were either petrified by frostbite or melted by mold. But when they did get to his village, there was a certain tradition involved. He would eat it immediately, clean the juice off his skin, preserve the rinds, attempt to hang it in every corner of the house, and put the seeds in a jar with the dream that he would have his own piece of Arcadia. That dream was…put on hold for some time.

But there was another more sanctified ritual that passed on from generation to generation. He would take a basket of oranges, bring a jar of sugar and salt, and take it to old madam Toussaint's house. She would take his offering and in a few days his father would come home with a jar of orange jam that looked like liquid glass.

It was a rarity, a treasure, a luxury not had often; so he would savor it. The jar never seemed to empty and lasted until the next harvest. Sometimes he would indulge himself when he received high marks in grade school and other times he would take a bit when the day was dark and dreary. But he would always hold himself back.

Now, as he spread the jam on his toast, there was no urgency, no restriction, nothing to detain him from the needs of his innermost self.

And yet he felt like he was not living like it.

He finished his breakfast and walked back to his dorm room.

**SO YEAH, DAMIEN…and…TOMMY…Great way to kick off a piece like this eh?**

**Oh my lord, it has returned! Pomona is now back on track! I apologize for taking forever (literally) and now I'm starting to get the swing of this story again. ****This chapter is short and sweet and I'm ready to get jammin' on this again!**

**A big thanks to allen niichan, House of the moon, and Sakis for hopping on the crazy train.**

**Rate, review, and give me your thoughts!**


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